Saviour
by Dee Minor
Summary: AU Emma Swan has finally been reunited with her father. As she accompanies him home to his kingdom, however, their ship is boarded by pirates. With a missing son, a pirate captain to not fall in love with and her freedom to secure, will she ever make it home?


Saviour

AU Emma Swan has finally been reunited with her father. As she accompanies him home to his kingdom, however, their ship is boarded by pirates. With a missing son, a pirate captain to not fall in love with and her freedom to secure, will she ever make it home?

Chapter One - Found

"_Snow?" Charming entered the room, shaking slightly. The queen was a defeated woman – black hair was caught in snarls and tangles about a grey, worn face. "I know how hard this is," he continued, voice rough, "but we have to keep looking. She's out there somewhere-"_

"_I thought it was over," she whispered, interrupting him. "I thought... We've been through so much, we've both lost everything and this... This is supposed to be our reward. Our happy ending. _I DON'T UNDERSTAND!_"_

_He didn't think about it, he just reached out and grabbed her, holding her close as she wept. Emma had been missing for almost a month, but this was the first he'd seen her cry._

"_Everyone in the kingdom's looking," he assured her. "We'll find her – I promise."_

"_Will you?" Snow demanded, drawing back suddenly. "What if...?"_

"_What if what?"_

_She drew a deep breath._

"_What if whoever did this is too powerful?"_

"_What are you thinking?" He frowned. They had considered sorcery, of course, but who would be powerful enough to steal the royal baby? Rumpelstiltskin seemed the obvious candidate, but he preferred making deals to get what he wanted. Kidnapping seemed beneath him. That only left-_

"_Regina." Sparks flared in his wife's eyes. "She did this, I know it."_

"_She can't hurt us," Charming pointed out gently. "We cast the spell, remember?"_

"_She can't hurt _us_, but that doesn't mean our daughter was safe!" Snow snapped, tears gathering in her eyes again._

"_We'll find her, Snow," he assured her, pulling her back into a hug. "I promise."_

* * *

Emma leaned over the railing with a sigh. Henry had finally gone to sleep below deck and Dr Hopper assured her that the boy would be fine. She'd worried that finding out he was a prince and having to leave his home and friends would be too much for her young son, but he seemed to be taking it in his stride. If anything, he was doing a far better job than Emma herself.

For 18 years, Emma had wondered who her parents were. Were they good people? Did she have any brothers or sisters? Grandparents?

Sitting in a dungeon cell and holding her newly born son, she'd considered sending him off, giving him his best chance with new parents, but the idea that he would have to live with the uncertainty about who his birth parents were decided her. **1** At least if he stayed with her, she'd be able to ensure he was always loved, always cared for. She'd decided there and then that Henry was her family – her true family – and that nobody else mattered.

She hadn't expected the King himself to appear on her doorstep announcing that he was her father.

Watching the waves, she pretended not to hear the man approaching. It probably wasn't a good idea to tell the king that she wanted nothing to do with him, after all. Wordless, he slumped beside her on the rail.

"How're you holding up?" He asked after a long moment of silence. She shrugged, craning her neck to see the ocean better.

"I've never been on a ship," she admitted, a little unsteady. She wasn't ready to trust this handsome stranger. "But I could be worse."

"I meant about me," he corrected softly, moving a lock of blonde hair from her face. "Everyone's been so excited to find you, but nobody's asked what _you _think."

It was true. Within days, she'd found herself ousted from her comfortable life as sheriff and onto the _Sweet Mary_ – nobody had said a word about what the lost princess must think and feel. Everyone assumed she'd be excited, even grateful, but not one person had thought to ask. Until now.

"Honestly...?" She stared at the king. At her father. He was a handsome man, about 50, with close-cropped fair hair and warm blue eyes. He looked a little like her and nothing like Henry – she wondered idly whether her son looked more like the queen. "I don't know. I wasn't expecting it."

"We never stopped looking," he told her solemnly. "It broke your mother's heart, when you went missing. We searched everywhere for you."

She nodded. He'd told her all about the birthmark on her back, how for years, soldiers swept the kingdom, examining each orphaned baby for signs of a similar birthmark. But nobody had even resembled the missing royal child, until now.

"I know... It's just gonna take some getting used to."

"The royalty thing?" David laughed understandingly. "I grew up on a farm, you know. I was almost twenty when King George came to me and told me he wanted to make me his heir."

"I know," she assured him wearily. "Everyone knows that one. He adopted your brother, and when he died, he came for you. It's not that. The royalty thing I can handle."

"Then what is it?" David asked, surprised.

"Look... I've gone my whole life without parents. Now I have to go, and smile, and pretend we're one big happy family? I'm not okay with that!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It wasn't his fault, she told herself. It didn't help. "I know you mean well," she went on, "but the fact is, I don't need parents. I have a family – I have Henry. You, and the queen, and all of this... It's a complication."

She couldn't believe how hurt he looked. She must be the worst person in the world, she knew, but what she'd said was the truth. She'd been _happy_ before. It was just her and Henry. It was all she wanted, all she needed.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," he said at last. "If that's the case, why did you agree to come?"

Emma frowned for a moment, struggling to frame her words.

"My son... He deserves more than I can give him."

"He'll get it," David assured her quickly. "Everything he wants. I promise."

"Well," Emma frowned slightly. "Maybe not _everything_. I _am_ his mother."

He laughed, the tension between them almost forgotten.

"And I'm his grandpa," he responded, grinning. "I'm _supposed _to spoil him."

Still wary, Emma looked the earnest man in the eye, and smiled. _

* * *

_Regina took one look at the guests her father had shown in and laughed._

_The last time she'd seen Snow White, the newly-coronated monarch had told her she was now harmless, unable to hurt Snow or her prince in this land. Now, almost two years later, the woman didn't look so beautiful. Bags hung under her eyes, her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in a week and her skin was gaunt._

"_Where is she?" the young queen demanded the moment she laid eyes on her step-mother._

"_Where is who?" Regina responded, amusement touching her voice. "You're wasting my time."_

"Where is my daughter!_" Snow snapped, taking a step forward. Charming lay a hand on his wife's shoulder, but she shrugged it off angrily._

"_How should I know?" She sneered in response. "I couldn't care less about finding your royal brat."_

"_You're lying!" Snow drew her sword in a smooth motion, hands shaking in rage. "You took her – I know you did!"_

"_Snow, calm down-"_

_Regina strode forwards imperiously as both women ignored Charming. A wave of the older woman's hand turned Snow's sword into so much purple smoke._

"_I don't know where your princess is," Regina snarled coldly. "If I did, I wouldn't tell you. Maybe you should be asking _yourselves_ how you managed to lose your own child." Seeing the look of tremendous pain on her foe's face, Regina smirked. "Now get out," she commanded sternly. "I haven't seen your child."_

_Pale with rage and sorrow, Charming dragged a sobbing Snow from Regina's castle._

* * *

"The land is mine by right," the farmer concluded firmly, "and I haven't given permission for a road to be built through it."

Snow frowned thoughtfully.

"But you've been offered suitable compensation for the work?" She clarified.

"That isn't the point!" the landowner snapped impatiently before catching a dwarf's eye. "Your majesty," he added feebly. "The point is that building this road would cause months of disruption to my work – you're compensating me for the loss of land, but not for the time I'll have to keep my herds away from the construction."

Queen Snow pursed her lips before turning to the young woman to her left.

"What would you suggest, Princess Eva?" She asked the surprised-looking teenager. The girl cleared her throat before speaking.

"We could move the road to a more convenient area," the girl suggested. "If we're cutting across your farm- or grazing-land, we could move it to a hill area."

"Plus more money by way of compensation," Snow finished, smiling at her daughter. It had taken her ten years to decide to have another child, and the young woman beside her was looking to be as competent a queen as Snow herself. "Will that satisfy you?"

"I... Thank you, your majesty," the farmer bowed.

"Find an area of land which would cause less disruption," she advised, "and show Sneezey here," she nodded to the dwarf who sniffed in return. "We'll increase your compensation by a quarter."

With the last issue of the morning cleared up, Snow rose gracefully and beckoned Eva.

"You did well," she complimented. The girl smiled in response before accompanying her mother out of the throne room.

"You have to deal with that every day?" She asked, wincing.

"Usually we rotate," Snow responded. "Sometimes your father will do it, sometimes a member of the small council. Maybe in a year or so, you'll take the council."

"But I'm not the heir any more," Eva pointed out shrewdly. "My sister is."

It felt odd, talking about her sister. She'd known most of her life that her parents had had another daughter, but she had always been an abstract entity. Now she would meet her at last.

"Well, she hasn't been raised as you have," Snow pointed out levelly. She had spent enough nights crying over her eldest daughter's lost chances to speak calmly about the issue. "We'll need to train her, if she's interested. And anyway, you've had plenty of offers of marriage from princes – you could easily become queen of another land."

Eva wrinkled her nose.

"Can't you pester Emma with the marriage thing instead?" She asked, tired of the subject. "I'll marry when I'm ready."

"I know," Snow touched her cheek gently, smiling. "I married for love – I don't see why you can't."

"Thank you."

Together, the two women set about planning the ball for their daughter's return. _

* * *

"Emma! Emma!" Dimly, she heard the panicked shouts of the king, but she wasn't listening. Nothing mattered to her, except getting her son to safety. Nobody could quite believe how quickly the pirate ship had crept up on them, and the attack had been fierce.

Ducking below deck, she stumbled as a cannon exploded on the side of the ship.

"Mom?" The voice was small, quiet and choked, but she heard it anyway above the sound of guns and shouting.

"Henry!" She couldn't keep the slight note of desperation from her voice. If the pirates took the ship, they would probably kill everyone on board and ransom the king, but they would not lay a finger on her son. She'd ensure it.

"Mom!" At last, the boy stumbled out of his cabin, looking pale. An ugly cut pierced the 10 year old's leg from where a cannon had torn a hole through the side of the ship, scattering debris and splinters. Biting back a wail of panic, she tore a shred from her tunic and bound the wound as best she could. There was no sign of Dr Hopper – she was all Henry had.

"Come on," she urged quietly. "We need to find a lifeboat."

She wasn't sure how she'd get him to safety, but she would find a way. Henry in one hand, sword in the other, she burst onto the deck, deftly knocking out the pirate duelling the king. David wasn't old, exactly, but a 50 year old doing battle with a much younger man didn't seem fair.

"Emma," he smiled faintly. "You have to get-"

A yell from Henry caught her attention and she ran through the man trying to snatch her son without a second thought. Henry's eyes were wide with shock, but she didn't have time to comfort him. In a few broad strides, she reached the lifeboat and lifted the boy into it. "Hide," she urged, pushing a few cloaks towards him. "I'll be back for you, I promise. Just stay hidden until I get back."

Turning back to the fight – she had to rescue the king – she smiled. Dr Hopper held an axe inexpertly, slashing randomly at the amused-looking pirate before him.

"Come on mate," the pirate taunted. "I could do better than that, and I've only got one hand!"

Rolling her eyes, Emma brought the hilt of her sword onto the pirate's head. The man dropped like a stone, and she stepped over his unconscious form to grab the axe from the doctor.

"Henry's in the lifeboat," she told him abruptly. "He's hurt. Get to him and keep an eye on him until I get back."

Turning away, she felt the doctor grip her arm.

"Come with me," he urged, clearly frightened. "It isn't safe here."

"I need to find the k-... my father," she responded with a forced smile. "Don't worry about me – go!"

Dr Hopper scurried nervously to the boat and she turned away. If anything happened to her, hopefully he'd have his wits about him and get Henry to safety.

Charging into the battle once more, she slashed at the man trying to kill a winded Grumpy. The pirate snarled and cut back viciously, but Emma's sword bit into his stomach and he dropped, gasping. Coolly, Emma cut her foe's throat. Nobody survived a wound to the gut – she was doing the man a mercy.

"Emma!"

She didn't hear the warning call, couldn't turn in time to defend herself, and a woman, fury lighting her eyes, prepared to strike, before slumping to the floor, unconscious. King David smiled encouragingly at her and helped her to her feet.

"Thanks," she gasped, eyeing the unconscious woman warily. Not many got the drop on her.

"Where's Henry?" he asked, concerned. "Is he safe?"

"With Hopper," she responded, preparing herself for her next foe.

Instead, she found a wall of cutlasses – they'd been circled.

"Drop your weapons," a tough-looking woman ordered fiercely. The pirate had dirty-blonde hair piled into a messy bun on the top of her head, was dressed in olive green fighting gear, and was pointing a crossbow at the king's heart.

After a moment's hesitation, Emma threw down her sword. With any luck, she could keep the pirates distracted while Henry and Hopper got to safety. A thud beside her told her David had done the same.

"Tie them up," the woman – Emma assumed she was their captain – ordered brusquely. "Hook'll want to speak to them."

Hook? A dim memory of a one-handed man slumping to the ground seized her – had she knocked out the notorious pirate captain? They were on a ship – amputees were surely a common sight?

In silence, she let herself be led onto the pirates' ship along with a dozen or so sailors and passengers. The captain was dead, as was his first mate. Nobody had seen Dr Hopper and Emma intended to keep his fate a secret until they were well away from the wreckage. There was no fight left in the captives, or so it appeared. Emma touched a hand to the knife she kept in her sleeve – if they found Henry, or tried touching her, somebody would lose their manhood.

They were shoved in the brig together, the door slamming shut behind them. Whoever had bound Emma's hands had done a poor job – she wriggled free in seconds.

"Are you okay," David turned to Grumpy, who looked pale and shaky from his injury.

"Fine," he gritted out. "If I could have five minutes alone with that no-good, cowardly-"

"With that injury, she'd kill you in seconds," David interrupted sternly. Privately, Emma agreed. The woman looked tough. In silence, she worked open the dwarf's bonds and made him lie down.

"I'd show her what dwarves are made of," Grumpy insisted, but allowed Emma to work. She didn't know much about healing, but she'd sustained worse in her days as a bandit.

"Well, at least it was only your head you hurt," David consoled him jokingly. "He didn't get anything important."

"You're hysterical," Grumpy retorted. "If the queen had come instead-"

"You might have lasted a little longer," David acknowledged, to Emma's surprise. Not many men would admit that their wives were more useful in a fight than them. "But there were too many of them."

They fell into silence as the ship pulled away from the wreckage. At last, the door swung open to admit a handsome, dark-haired man dressed in black leather beside the woman who'd ordered their capture. Emma recognised the man as the one she'd knocked unconscious during the fight.

"I thought you said you'd had them tied up," the man pointed out wryly.

"I _did_," was the exasperated retort. "They must have gotten loose."

The man eyed the prisoners quietly, obviously wondering who had shed their bonds first. His eyes lingered the longest over Emma, before landing on Grumpy and an injured sailor.

"Fetch Whale," he ordered a short, squat man behind him. "Some of them are injured."

"Why should you care?" David demanded angrily.

The man smiled easily.

"It wouldn't do for the prisoners to die," he responded casually. "How would I get my ransom... Your majesty?"

"Who are you?" he asked, glaring at the smirking pirate.

"Hook," was the reply. "Captain Hook."

Emma groaned to herself. _Obviously_ it was the notorious pirate captain she'd assaulted. Well, with any luck, he wouldn't remember her. Often people didn't, in the thick of battle.

"And my first mate, Tinker bell," he finished with a flourish. "If you've any complaints, feel free to take them to her."

With that, he swept away, as a coldly handsome man strode into the brig, bearing a medical kit.

Emma sat back, nerves twisting at her stomach. If only she knew that Henry was okay.

None of the pirates noticed the small lifeboat drifting away from the wreckage of the _Sweet Mary_.

* * *

**1 **I just want to emphasise – in the series, Regina and Emma are both Henry's real mothers. Regina raised Henry as her son and that makes her a parent. I'm just trying to write from Emma's perspective – she had a miserable time because she felt unloved as a child and this led her to think that growing up with one's biological parents is always what's best. Obviously this isn't true, but I can see why Emma might think it.


End file.
